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21 Sep 2012, 03:12

Thanks in advance for reading this!

Background: 24 year old male from India.

GMAT: 720 (Q51,V36). Gave it recently so still waiting for the AWA+IR scores.

College: Bachelor of Engineering(Electronics and Telecommunications) from University of Pune, India. Graduated in 2010 with an aggregate of 66.8%(Distinction in my university). This may seem low but considering our university gives a distinction at 66% (as compared to 75% in other Indian universities) it is a decent score.

Work Experience: 26 months as on today. Working as a Consultant in one of the Big 4 professional services firms. My work is mostly related to Identity and Access management. We assess and implement Identity Management solutions. In my two years, I have worked on Fortune 500 clients from the US. My projects have been a mix of both technical and strategy work. My current project is a project on the strategy side and I am currently leading a team of 2 people(both Consultants themselves) on my project.

Extracurricular1. I have a real passion for football. I have pursued the same throughout school, college and now in my current firm. Represent the firm in tournaments and am the captain of the branch I'm in. (Around 7000 people in my firm)2. I have participated in quite a few extra curricular events in college related to Debates, Improv and Quiz.3. In charge of managing the inter - college sports fest for 2 years.4. Have been involved in a community initiative for 6 months regarding computer literacy of underprivileged children.

Post MBA Goal: After an MBA I want to get into strategy consulting. Hopefully something to do with the sports industry.

Now to the questions I have:1. I've heard that their is a typical Indian Male IT professional stereotype which inhibits my chances at all top colleges. I want to know with my work ex and slightly average score am I being realistic in my schools. Also, please suggest any other schools that I can aim for.

2. Is it true that maximum scholarships are awarded in the first round of applications. Also I have heard that their is a higher chance of rejections in the later rounds.

3. Lastly, and this has been eating away at me for the past few days- Should I retake the GMAT? I feel I can do better in English but realistically I think I could at max get a 740-750. Is it worth it?

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The difference is fairly marginal between a 720 and 740 so I would say your focus at this point should be on your story and relating it well in your applications. You are correct that there is a big hurdle for Indian males with IT background, so you should be prepared to make yourself stand out in that crowd. Your leadership experience will help, as most people do not have direct reports or managerial responsibility when applying to b-school. Make your other components of your profile stand out so you don't sound like everyone else. They are trying to get to know you as a person, not just as a professional, so definitely bring out all the extras that you mentioned in the profile. Getting to why you do what you do or have done what you have done is way more important than describing what you have done. The why is critical to revealing your personality and what makes you tick. Your school selection is definitely high. You might consider a couple of applications to schools in the top 25 but a little farther down to play it safe and get a couple of choices.
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